Atomizing apparatus



c. GUsTAFsoN 2,623,782

Dec. 30, 19,52

" ATOMIZING APPARATUS Filed Nov. 26, 1949 4k? 43 f4 fa? 5g .36 d' j .57?? j f l fg a 44 j? E+ zo fa (J7 fave/afar 'afl frasi@ Soral M {www5/Laval Patented Dee. 30, 1952 Carl Gustafson, Lunenburg, Mass.

Application November 26, 1949, Serial No.,129,571

rlhis invention relates to atomizing or spray nozzle apparatus, and more particularly to such apparatus of the type which is suitable for providing a humidifying mixture of finely divided water and air.

it is the main object of the present invention to provide nozzle apparatus of the above type which divides a liquid such as water into very fine particles intermixed with another fluid such as air, while regulating its discharge` in conformity with the pressure of the liquid supplied thereto, and keeping itself open by continuously automatic action, thereby remaining in operation in spite of accidental dirt and other impurities which in other types of such apparatus often impair proper and continuous operation.

Other objects of the invention are to provide spray nozzle or other humidifying apparatus of the above type which is simple and inexpensive in manufacture and yet rugged and reliable; to provide such apparatus which can be easily disassembled and reassembled for the purpose of cleaning or exchanging the control elements, and which permit adjustment of its operation; and to provide spray nozzle humidifying apparatus which automatically cleans itself each time the uid supply is turned on or cut off, and which inherently eliminates any particles lodging in the nozzle portion between such cleaning operations.

In one I" the aspects of the invention a spray nozzle is provided with a control member having a nozzle cleaning portion which slidably engages the nozzle discharge portion each time a supply of iluid under pressure is connected or disconnected from the inlet of the spray nozzle.

In another aspect a piston is integrally or othern wise fastened to a control member slidably arranged in a' conduit or passage in a body, which piston cooperates with a shoulder in the passage to cause a pressure drop balancing the force exerted bya spring biasing the control member thereby to limit the travel of the nozzle cleaning portion. Such travel is preferably but not necessarily limited, so :that the cleaning portion cooperates with-a suitably formed portion of the body conduit to produce an essentially conee shaped spray pattern.

ln still another aspect the cleaning portion is connected to the remainder of the control member by means of a yieldable needle-shaped portion which extends through the conduit when the cleaning portion is in its extended operating position, the needle-shaped portion being sumciently flexible lto bend thereby to dislodge particles tending to clog the body conduit.

A further feature of the invention is, in addition tothe piston or other means for regulating the iluiqdischarge dependent upon the uid pressure,fprovis`ion of valve means which check. the fluid` supply while the fluid pressure is below a given value.

In still another aspect the invention provides a humidifying device which combines two nozzles for two fluids, one of which may be liquid and the other gaseous, these nozzles being so correlated that the two fluids, both supplied under pressure, intermingle and form an especiallyne spray which is propelled a considerable distance beyond the nozzle.

These and other objects and aspects will ap' pear from the following description of a typical embodiment illustrating the novel characteristics of the invention. This description refers to a drawing in which:

Fig. 1 is a front elevation View of the spray apparatus;

Fig. 2 is a section on line 2-2 of Fig. l showing the position of the control member when no fluid is being supplied to the nozzle;

Fig. 3 is a fragmentary sectional view showing the control member in its extended operating position; and

Fig. 4 is a detail section of the fluid orice with the cleaning portion of the needle withdrawn.

In Figs. 1 and 2, numeral ll denotes the main body of the spray apparatus according to this embodiment of the invention, which body Il has a centrally bored conduit or passage l2. One end of the passage l2 is threaded as at I4, the other end being twice reduced in diameter as at l5 andA lrespectively, to form two shoulders 2li and 32. `The passage portion I6 extends through the wall at the Arear of the body il which' is reduced in diameter to form a vboss for an external threadL I8 which is adapted to connect with a suitable 4supply duid under pressure (not shown). A head 22 for `closing the frontend of the passage i2 is provided with external threads which engage the internal threads I4 in the body at the end of the passage. The head Z2 is provided with centrally located discharge passage I9, theouter end 23 o f which is bored to a greater diameter thereby forming a shoulder 2. The opposite end 2l of the passage I9 also is of a greater diameter so that it reciprocatingly accommodates a fluted portion 25 of a slidable control member 25. The front end of the fluted portion 26 tapers to a yeldable needle-like support portion 34 having a` cylindrical shaped nozzle cleaning portion 38 at the forward end thereof. The diameter of the cleaning portion 3 is such that it makes a sliding fit with the passage I9. Formed integrally with the opposite end of the uted portion 26 is a piston 28 which slidably engages the passage I5 when the control member is in the retracted position shown in Fig. 2. Rearwardly of the piston 28 is a cone-shaped portion 3l] which cooperates with a seat in the shoulder 32 between the passages I5 and I6 to form a check valve. The control member 25 is biased rearwardly to seat the check valve by means of a spring lll), one end of which bears against the piston 28, the other end being seated upon the end of the head 22 with conical portion seated on 32, the cleaning portion 36 slightly clears passage I9, as shown in Fig. 4.

The forward end of the body II is closed by a cap 42 which is secured thereto by means of the threads 44. Centrally located in the front and rear of the cap l2 are two frustoconical recesses 46 and 48 respectively, the apexes of which are connected by a cylindrical aperture 5S. The cap 42 and the head 22 are proportioned so that the tapered front end of the head projects through the aperture 5S until it is flush with the truncated end of the recess de. The diameter of the aperture 5d is sufficiently greater than the diameter of the tapered end of the head 22 that an annular passageway 52 is formed therebetween.

The rear recess d3 in the cap connects with a substantially annular passage 5d located between the body il and the head 22. This passage 54 in turn is connected by a passage 53 to a passage 56 in a neck '5? projecting from the body II. At the end of the neck El is a head having external threads E@ for connecting with a supply of compressed air (not shown) in any conventional manner.

In operation the compressed air supply is first connected to the nozzle, with the components of the apparatus as shown in Figs. 1 and 4, so that air under pressure flows through the passages 56 and 5t into the angular passage 54 and thence out through the cylindrical passage 52. Water or other liquid to be atomized is then supplied to the conduit I6. When the pressure of such liquid reaches a predetermined value, the force Iexerted upon the control member 25 is suiiicient to overcome the force exerted by the biasing spring di), thereby to crack the check valve seated upon the shoulder 32. The fluid pressure then exerted upon the effective area of the piston 28 further compresses the spring 40 until the piston leaves the conduit portion I5 and the liquid fiows along the fluted portion 26 into the conduit 2 I. This movement of the control member 25 forces the nozzle cleaning portion 36 through the nozzle portion I9, thereby to clean out any particles of dirt which may have accumulated therein which would otherwise tend to interfere with the operation of the nozzle.

The forward movement of the control member 25 is limited by the increase in fluid pressure drop across the edge of the piston 28 and the shoulder 2li, the control member moving to a piston where the back pressure plus spring force balances the fluid supply pressure. In this position the front end of the nozzle cleaning portion is flush with the truncated end of the recess 155 as is shown in Fig. 3, so that the rear edge of the cleaning portion cooperates with the shoulder 2d to produce a conical shaped spray pattern which is thoroughly atomized by the compresed air from the passage 52. It will be noted that spring ill is not fully compressed in this position, providing continuously floating operation of head 22.

Any particles of foreign matter which tend to lodge in the passage I9 thereby to clog the nozzle are dislodged by the force exerted on the particle by the iiuid pressure which bends the needle portion 34 thereby permitting the particle to pass out through the front of the nozzle.

i When the fluid supply is shut ol so that the fluid pressure disappears, the control member 25 is returned to the position shown in Fig. 2 by the action of the spring 49 thereby to close the check valve and prevent dripping at pressures below which atomizing takes place. This rearward movement of the control member also slides the cleaning portion St back through the nozzle conduit I9 thereby providing a second positive cleaning action.

It should be understood that the present disclosure is for the purpose of illustration only and that this invention includes all modifications and equivalents which fall within the scope of the appended claims.

I claim:

l. An atomizer comprising a body enclosing a chamber, a liquid inlet port and a liquid outlet duct communicating with the chamber, a discharge passage forward of the duct, said passage having walls generally codirectional with and of greater inside diameter than the duct, a flow control member movable within said chamber between rear and forward positions in response to the ow of liquid through the chamber, a support portion extending forwardly from the control member, said support portion being thinner than the duct, a cleaning portion of greater diameter than the support portion at the forward end of the support portion and aligned with the duct and movable with the control member from an initial position within the chamber through the duct and thence to a position beyond the duct, said cleaning portion snugly tting the duct to clean the duct on movement therethrough, said control member when in forward position holding the cleaning portion in said discharge passage so that said cleaning portion and walls form an obstructed channel causing a turbulence in the flow of liquid through the discharge passage thereby breaking the liquid into a ne spray.

2. An atomizer comprising a body enclosing a chamber, a liquid inlet port and a liquid outlet duct communicating with the chamber, a discharge passage forward of the duct, said passage having walls generally codirectional with and of greater inside diameter than the duc-t, a flow control member movable within said chamber between rear and forward positions in response to the flow of liquid through the chamber, a support portion extending forwardly from the control member, said vsupport portion being thinner Ithan the duct, a cleaning portion of greater diameter than the support Iportion at the forward end of the support portion and aligned with the du-ct and movable with the control member from an initial position within the chamber, through the duct and thence to a p-osition bey-ond the duct,

said cleaning portion snugly fitting the duct to clean the duct on movement therethrough, said control member when in forward position holding the cleaning portion in the discharge passage so that said cleaning portion and walls cause a turbulence in the flow of liquid through the discharge passage thereby breaking the liquid into a fine spray, said support portion being longer REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

Number Number 6 UNITED STATES PATENTS Name Date Britton Dec. 31J 1918 Dudley May 16, 1922 Boehm May 17, 1938 Holtzelaw Sept. 11, 1945 FOREIGN PATENTS Country Date Germany June 14, 1930 

